'Murdered' fisherman 'told his friend he was worried about three men camping next to him before he was brutally bludgeoned to death then tossed in the River Thames'

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Scott Wilkinson, 48, was murdered on an angling trip on the banks of the river in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

A fisherman who was beaten to death and his body tossed into the River Thames told a friend he was worried about three men camping next to him, a court heard.

Scott Wilkinson, 48, was murdered on an angling trip on the banks of the river in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, by Charlie Smith, and brothers Lenny and Shane Crawt, it is alleged.

Two of the men were identified in a group of three men by witnesses who spotted them leaving woodland less than two miles away from the murder scene.

It is claimed they shouted at them 'I wouldn't say anything if I was you because we killed someone tonight,' jurors were told.

Smith, 24, of no fixed address, Lenny, 18, of West Mosley and Shane, 19, of Purley, surrey, are on trial at Guildford Crown Court.

Mr Wilkinson left his home on July 25 2016 to go fishing, pitching his tent near the water's edge of a spot on Donkey Island near Walton-on-Thames.

The angler complained about three men who had pitched their tents in his usual spot, and were leaving litter around the island. 

Prosecutor Paul Cavin QC said three men had been seen on CCTV leaving Donkey Island at 11.22pm on July 27. 

Mr Wilkinson had last been seen by his girlfriend shortly before - at 10.52pm - when she was seen on CCTV walking past a local public house on her way home from the island. 

Charlie Smith is one of three men accused of the murder of Scott Wilkinson in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey in 2016

Mr Wilkinson  had a device implanted in him that monitored his heart rate. The court was told that at 11.19pm he was raised, which experts said would be consistent with an adrenaline rush he experienced during the attack. 

The jury heard he was alive but unconscious for hours after he was battered. 

That evening, witnesses at a pub in Walton-on-Thames had seen three men, two of whom they knew to be Shane and Lenny Crawt, who had sworn at them and said they had killed someone. 

Shane Crawt was said to have later admitted to his girlfriend and her friend that he had killed someone, describing a blow with a plank of wood and knocking out a man's teeth. 

Brothers Lennie Crawt (left) and Shane Crawt (right) are also on trial at Guildford Crown court over the murder

The friend of Shane Crawt's girlfriend told police that the other two defendants had confirmed this was true, and Lenny Crawt told a worker in a gym in August 16 that they had killed a man. 

Mr Cavin told the jury: 'A little after 4pm on the afternoon of Thursday July 28 2016, the body of Scott Wilkinson, a 48-year-old man from Walton-on-Thames was recovered from the water's edge from an island in the River Thames.

'When the police went to the island they found his tent was covered in blood. 

'His body, when removed from the Thames, revealed lacerations to his head and arms. 

'A pathologist later gave his cause of death as trauma to the brain from a blunt head injury. He had clearly been subjected to a savage attack.'

The prosecutor said that Mr Wilkinson had been visited by his girlfriend, Lisa Lane, and a friend, David Price, while on the island and it had been noted that three men had set up camp in his usual spot.

Mr Cavin said: 'David Price went to see Scott Wilkinson on Wednesday July 27 about midday and came across three tents which had been set up in Scott's normal pitch.

'Mr Wilkinson was set up a little further on. Scott, he said, was there fishing happily, although he had complained that people from the other tents were making a mess, leaving litter around.'

Police tape at the murder scene in July 2016. A post mortem found he died from severe traumatic head injuries. His tent and fishing gear were found among secluded trees nearby

The jury was told the men in the three tents had been seen burning clothes. Witnesses described hearing chaotic noises and commotion during the night.

The angler was reported missing by concerned family on July 28 and his body pulled from the river by firefighters later that afternoon, a short distance from where he was fishing the night before.

He was discovered to have severe traumatic head injuries. His tent and fishing gear were found among secluded trees nearby.

The jury heard that all three defendants in their defence statements admitted they were on the island and saw Mr Wilkinson killed but each blamed the others and said they played no part. 

The trio listened as the prosecutor told the jury of their three differing version of events.

Mr Cavin said: 'Charlie Smith who served his defence statement on December 14 2018, asserts that all three were present and that the attack in all was down to the Crawts.

'On the July 26 the three went to the Crawt's mother's home. When they returned to the island the Crawt's fishing equipment was missing. 

It was suggested that Scott Wilkinson had taken their fishing equipment. When they asked him, Mr Wilkinson produced the equipment from a derelict building.

'The next day, apparently despite the theft of the Crawt's fishing equipment the day before, cannabis was purchased from Mr Wilkinson and the afternoon was passed by smoking.

'Lisa Lane and they spoke before Scott escorted her to the island bridge. 

'Shane suggested they buy more cannabis from Scott Wilkinson. They went to his tent and Shane suddenly picked up a piece of wood and swung it at Scott Wilkinson's face. In fact it connected with the back of his head,' said the prosecutor.

'Lenny Crawt then produced a knife which he used to cut the side of Scott's face. Mr Smith said he played no part in the attack.'

In Lenny Crawt's statement he said that Mr Wilkinson was at their camp when the attack happened and he had played no part and had walked away.

Shane Crawt painted a third picture of a minor fight between Mr Wilkinson and himself over money owed for cannabis, during which Mr Wilkinson produced a knife and pointed it at him before Smith intervened and landed the fatal blows.

The jury was told the defendants had attempted to go with friends back to the scene of Mr Wilkinson's death and remove items from their tent which might link them to the crime but they gave up when they saw police forensic teams on Donkey Island.

Police had gone to the home of the Crawts' mother on July 28 2016, the day Mr Wilkinson's body was found, on an unrelated mission to return Lenny Crawt to the social care home he was supposed to be staying at in Blackpool. 

When officers arrived they found Charlie Smith who tried to flee through the back of the property before he was stopped by officers.

Mr Cavin said: 'A female police officer said everyone in the flat looked very tired. Shane Crawt was lying on a sofa, nearly asleep. When asked why he was so tired he said, 'I've only been asleep a couple of hours'. 

At 9am on the morning after the murder, apparently tired, there was some suggestion they'd been out in the small hours.'

The jury was told that Mr Wilkinson was survived by a number of children from two previous marriages and he had been in a relationship with Lisa Lane for the four years leading up to 2016. 

He had worked driving HGVs but was on benefits having suffered an injury working for a removals company.

Having lost his job, the jury heard, Mr Wilkinson was a keen fisherman who liked to go on trips for two to three weeks at a time, usually in the summer, as at the time he was murdered.

Smith and Lenny and Shane Crawt all deny murder. 

The trial continues.  

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